Watchet, Somerset

Contact Artist: Melanie Deegan

* Your Name

* Your Email

* Message

About

The ability to capture movement in any form of art has always interested me and this has been a strong influence in many of the sculptures I create. The challenge is not just to suggest the action of an animal or figure in motion but also to give them a sense of purpose, to try and understand how it feels to be there.

In 2008 I returned to sculpting full time having originally trained and worked as a woodcarver in the 1980’s before taking up a career as an analyst in the IT industry. My woodcarving experience covered a wide range of projects involving anything from restoration work and traditional furniture to carving wooden items for the National Trust. When I came back to sculpture again more recently this medium was not dynamic enough for the subjects that I aspired to capture.

The desire for a more flexible approach to sculpture that allowed ideas to flow more easily encouraged me to try other materials and techniques. Over the last few years I have been experimenting with a range of sculpting materials and this gradually led to the combination of materials that I now use.

I work predominantly with Jesmonite, an acrylic resin to which I add colours and different materials to give an interesting variety textures. Ideas for sculptures come from many sources and I often use a library of images to help provide inspiration and detail.

Most sculptures begin with a wire or steel armature, this is essentially the drawing process and allows the proportions, position and bone structure to be determined. Onto this the layers are built up almost as if adding muscles and soft tissue to the piece. The layers consist of resins and other materials, these will vary as the sculpture develops to achieve different effects. This part of the procedure is not entirely precise and adds an interesting dimension to the creative process.